With the ugly details of Michael Floyd’s weekend arrest now out in the open, we knew it wouldn’t be long until head coach Brian Kelly and Notre Dame would comment publicly on the fate of their rising senior captain.
In a statement released Monday afternoon, Kelly had this to say:“I’ve spoken to Michael Floyd and his mother and, in light of what took place this past weekend, I let him know he has been suspended indefinitely from football team-related activities,” Kelly said Monday evening in a statement.
“Football needs to take a back seat at the moment while Michael gets his life in order, and while I don’t know when Michael will be reinstated, it will not happen until Michael demonstrates he has successfully modified his behavior and the legal and university disciplinary matters have run their respective courses.
“What’s most important right now is Michael focusing on maturing and developing more as a person while working to improve his decision-making processes.”
In another statement released by the university, Floyd himself apologized:
“First of all, I want to apologize to my family, friends, teammates, coaches, the University and the extended Notre Dame family for my behavior this weekend,” Floyd said in a statement released by the university. “I understand the gravity of the decision I made and how it could have had catastrophic effects on myself and others.
“I’ve talked to coach Kelly and I accept the decision he made. I absolutely recognize that I have many things to work on to become a better person and will need to regain the trust of all whom I have hurt within my immediate family and the Notre Dame family. I fully intend to spend the immediate future improving myself to become a better member of our community.”
Floyd’s brushes with the law and trouble he’s found himself in during his career have all come from drinking, so if this is the lightbulb that helps him understand that there might be a problem, let’s all be thankful that it didn’t take a major accident or someone else getting hurt for him to understand the severity of the problem.
If you’re looking to parse words, Kelly said he didn’t know when Michael would be reinstated, not whether he would be. That said, I think it’ll certainly be an uphill climb for Floyd to see the field for his senior season, a year so many Irish fans were ecstatic he’d be a part of. If I’m a member of the coaching staff and the school’s disciplinary process, I’d take a serious look at how they can help Michael get his priorities straight, and if he’s shown that he can balance them -- while staying alcohol free -- maybe there’s a future for him still on the field at Notre Dame.